He has yet to announce the other half of the pool consisting of the players who are not yet in the PBA, led by Chris Tiu from the Gilas roster. Current Air 21 import and naturalized Filipino Marcus Douthit is also in, even with the planned naturalization of Denver Nugget and recent Manila visitor JaVale McGee already in the works.

I am not surprised with the six players from TNT, because those guys are the ones he's most familiar with, being their coach. Plus, they won the 3 of the last four conferences, and you cannot argue with that success. I am relatively surprised with JVee's non-inclusion, as well as Enrico's inclusion. Then again, a naturalized player will man the slot for at least 30 minutes, so that will be the least of our concerns.

What can we expect: a lot of small ball, transition, open court offense, something that has been en vogue as of late (look at Team USA under Coach K). We have designated gunners with Yap and David alternating in the role. There is an emphasis as well with defense, led by Marcio, who did such a great job for SMART-Gilas last time out, and Larry for TNT. You'll need someone who knows Chot's offense, so the entire TNT PG corps will do that for him. Sonny is an upgrade over Asi for the back-up big who can play alongside naturalized slot man. Think our backcourt's small? Ryan and Gabe can handle it. Even Larry can do it in a pinch. Marc is like Udonis Haslem. Arwind is like Josh Smith, even with his bad habit of shooting threes poorly.

It is important to stress this info out: Chot did express that the pool will remain fluid, so guys can play their way in or out of the pool.

Monday, March 26, 2012

So, the Final Four is set. Congratulations to Kentucky, Louisville, Kansas and Ohio State. The establishment once again reigns in the NCAA, as a SEC, B1G, Big East and a Big 12 team asserted their claim.
Kentucky is filled with boatloads of talent, which Cal will reload, and reload he will until the NBA pries him away. Standing in his way is a familiar nemesis in Rick Pitino and his Cardinals, the champions of the Big East. Then we have Bill Self against Thad Matta on the other bracket.
Maybe we will see the drama we're normally accustomed to here. Who knows.

The women are in their Elite 8 (Baylor-Tenn vs Stanford-Duke, Notre Dame-Maryland vs UConn vs Kentucky)
The NIT is also in their Final Four, too. But most of you don't care about that. What more the CBI and the CIT...

Friday, March 23, 2012

March 21 is definitely a special day for one Mick Pennisi. Mick, a long time veteran of the Philippine Basketball Association, had earlier nailed his 700th three pointer against the Petron Blaze Boosters. He is the 8th Filipino to make that many conversions from that distance. But all we will remember from that day was this instance.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Four-time Barclays English Premier League side champions Chelsea FC has entered into a partnership with The Younghusband Football Academy (TYFA) that would lead towards the creation of a soccer school in the Philippines.

To be spearheaded by Phil and James Younghusband, The Chelsea FC Soccer School will be ofiicially launched on May 15, 2012 at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City. It will be the English club's initial foray in the Philippines. Prior to that, a Chelsea FC Soccer School Summer Camp will be organized this April and May at the Evia Football Field in Las Piñas, with the culminating activity to be concurrent with the official launch of the school on the 15th. The camp is to be subdivided into the Under-8, Under-10, Under-12 and Under-16 age groups for boys and girls.

It was natural to have Chelsea and TYFA to enter into a partnership, as Phil and James have roots with the team from Stamford Bridge. The siblings came from and played for the Chelsea Academy, under the tutelage of Gianluca Vialli and current Real Madrid CF manager Jose Mourinho. From this experience, in January 2010, Phil and James established TYFA as a series of enhancement clinics for football skills to help with the grassroots development of the sport in and around the Philippines while at the same time playing for the national team. In fact, the brothers are holders of UEFA Coaching Credentials (Phil has a Level 2 badge, while James has a Level 1 badge).

For any questions and inquiries, you may contact 09478357519 or go to the website.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

It is unnerving to hear about stuff like this, especially if the person involved plays for the team you root for.

The former English Under-21 international collapsed during their FA Cup Quarterfinal match against Tottenham at White Hart Lane. He was rushed to The Heart Attack Centre where he faces a key 24-hour stretch.

Friday, March 16, 2012

It is March, said to be the most fascinating time of the year in sports. Frenetic and palpitating. Filled with moments of magic.

In the realm of American college basketball, there is a realm called "March Madness." It is the mad dash towards the collegiate postseason, and the postseason itself, where 68 teams fight their way to be known as the best team that year. Where it is literally a life-or-death scenario, where a defeat will eliminate you and send you to obscurity and probable disappointment. People love that and it shows, especially now in the era of social media and its immediacy. This is where the concept of Cinderella in sport is best known, as some little-known school gets on a roll, beats a heavy favorite, goes on a run, gets wide appeal.

Translation (my version): It saddens me that there has been a negative reaction based on my comments about the Philippine Azkals regarding the sexual harassment complaint of Ms. Cristy Ramos. I did not intend it to go that way. The issue is about the sexual harassment case, and if I may have used any inappropriate language, I humbly ask for your understanding. To those who support the fight against sexual harassment, thank you. This is a subject matter that needs to be focused on.

To fully understand the context of what he said, here is the actual video:

You may choose to frame it to what you want it to be frame, for as long as you heard both ends of the story.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Congratulations to the 68 teams who made it to the Big Dance. First to the 31 Conference Tournament Winners, since they earned the automatic bid. Then to the other 37 institutions whom the NCAA Selection Committee has deemed to be deserving of the spot.

I am pretty sure we will have a myriad of posts upcoming to deconstruct the bracket, and other what nots, but there are other things to look at, as there is the NIT and the CBI and the CIT, too.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Neil Etheridge arrived in the country mainly to prepare for the FIFA international friendly against Malaysia last February 29. In addition to that, he also managed to make his first formal appearance as an endorser for sports drink brand Powerade at the Makati Shangri-La last February 27. Neil is the final piece of its dream team of Ambassadors, as the Fulham GK joins collegiate basketball standout David Semerad, running extraordinaire Rio dela Cruz and fitness maven Chinggay Andrada as the foursome for Powerade.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Lionel Messi is the reigning, defending Ballon D'or winner. That means you are the best footballing god in the planet. If you are not convinced, let this Champions League clip against Bayer Leverkusen show you.

h/t to the guy who posted this on Vimeo.

First guy to score five goals in a Champions League match. First guy to score at least 4 goals in a CL match twice (he scored 4x against Arsenal 2 years ago).

Friday, March 2, 2012

It is interesting that there really has not been a true showcase of the best high school players in the country. All we know of them are their exploits if you have seen them live in person in the different leagues. Now, the people behind the National Basketball Training Center will help you get to know the players in a first of its kind Philippine spectacle, the Seaoil High School All-Star Game, which will take place on Sunday, 11am at the Ynares Gym in Pasig.

Hundreds of graduating High School basketball standouts tried out, but only 30 were selected to participate. Six of those come from the provinces as recommended by the locals in their respective areas.The 30 names were then ranked by a group of basketball experts, which included Ato Badolato and current Youth Team coach Olsen Racela, and split evenly into two-15 man teams, which will be coached by the staff from either National University or San Beda College.

The event is intended to be about the kids and for the kids, as remarked by NBTC Technical Director Alex Compton. This is different from the Nike Elite Camps that had been shown previously as the Elite is more of instructional and that was composed of different age groups, unlike this particular event, which is tailored for incoming collegiate freshmen.

In addition, Rajko Toroman, who helmed SMART-Gilas previously and now serves as consultant with the SMC franchises, will also have a session with the 30 players.

It is expected that coaches and scouts from the different colleges and universities will be attending this event to check out the players, some of which have already declared where they will be attending college. There are still others who remain undecided as to where they will be pursuing further studies and take their athletic talents to.

Here are the players who will be participating in the 1st Seaoil High School All-Star Game

Here is the picture of some of the players participating in the game, which was taken during their press conference held at the National Sports Grill yesterday. Joining them are current NU head coach Eric Altamirano, Alex Compton and SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios.